Authorities investigating horse's deteriorated condition

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The sheriff's office is looking into the circumstances surrounding an emaciated horse, which was being put to death, in a rural subdivision west of Fort Pierce.

Sheriff's investigators consider it a possible animal neglect case.

On Sunday a sheriff's deputy found the horse on its side on the ground in a pasture in Fort Pierce Gardens subdivision west of Florida's Turnpike.

"The horse kept trying to stand up but was unable to make it to its feet," the deputy wrote in a report. "I could count every rib and his hip bones were sticking out" of the horse's skin. It had sores on its body and was bleeding from the mouth, the report said.

A veterinarian was called to put the horse to death.

The deceased horse's owner, identified as Almus Willis, 48, showed up as the deputy was there and Willis was quoted as saying the animal was diagnosed as having equine protozoal myeloenceuphalities (EPM) and medication had been ordered but hadn't arrived.

A St. Lucie County Animal Control officer arrived at the pasture at the same time Willis showed up on Sunday. Officials at the county's Animal control Division said the sheriff's office is running the investigation and looking into whether the animal had EPM.

EPM usually is passed to horses from grazing or drinking from a pond where a opossum defecated feces containing EPM. It isn't transmittable among horses and is often treatable if caught soon enough, said veterinarian Mike Short with the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Industry.

However diagnosis can be difficult. EPM affects a horse's central nervous system and brain, Short said.

On rare occasions it can be transmitted through opossum feces to humans, who experience flu-like symptoms, Short said.

Willis said a veterinarian ordered medication, according to the report. A deputy wasn't able to reach that veterinarian by phone.